Writing

Diane Johnson's first novel in eight years deals with an American woman's affair during the Iranian revolution. She joins Fresh Air to talk about writing biographies and screenplays and why it took her so long to finish her newest book.

British novelist Julian Barnes takes great pleasure in quoting bad writing, as well as how words often fail to convey their intended meaning. His new book is called Staring at the Sun.

Nicholas Proffitt's book Garden of Stone, inspired by his ceremonial role in the Army during the Vietnam War, was recently adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola.

The white South African writer hopes that her works have educated her readers about the realities of apartheid in her home country. Her newest book is called A Sport of Nature.

Kati Marton's new autobiographical novel follows the life of journalist who returns to her home country. Like the book's protagonist, Marton's parents were political prisoners in Hungary. She is married to television news anchor Peter Jennings.

Writers Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich work together to complete their acclaimed books; however, whoever writes the first draft gets their name on the cover. The couple joins Fresh Air to discuss their marriage and upbringing in Native American communities.

John Nichols' new novel dwells on the horrors of the Vietnam War. Earlier in life, he moved to New Mexico to work as a political activist. Those experiences were the basis of his popular New Mexico Trilogy.

James Crumley's increasingly popular mystery novels feature the detective Milo Milodragovitch, who is as flawed as the criminals he pursues. Unlike the urban settings of classic hard-boiled fiction, his books take place in Montana.

Novelist and memoirist Susan Cheever never thought she'd follow in her father John Cheever's footsteps as a writer. Drawing on the memories of his final days, her newest book, Doctors and Women, deals with cancer patients and their families.

Scott Turow received a $200,000 advance for his legal thriller Presumed Innocent. Despite his financial success, Turow, a practicing defense attorney, says that no one in their right mind should believe they can make a career solely as a writer.

The insurance agent turned suspense novelist has gained widespread popularity, even with President Reagan and among the intelligence community. Clancy's latest, Patriot Games, follows CIA agent Jack Ryan, who was first introduced in The Hunt for Red October.

At age 40, H.F. Saint gave up his career as a real estate investor to write his debut novel, Memoirs of an Invisible Man. He discusses the central trope of his book with guest host Liane Hansen.

Fifty-one-year-old author Avery Corman has a new book called 50. He joins Fresh Air guest host Liane Hansen to talk about the different ways men and women view aging. Corman first rose to prominence with his novel Kramer Versus Kramer.

Dr. Perri Klass writes extensively for magazines and newspapers, and has published a collection of short stories. Her new memoir, A Not Entirely Benign Procedure, details her experiences as a med student at Harvard.

Richard Ford, who wrote the critically acclaimed novel The Sportswriter.

Mary Gordon. Her novels include The Company of Women and Final Payments, an acclaimed exploration of a Catholic upbringing. Her recent collection of short stories is titled Temporary Shelter.

Writer John Updike. He is one of the most-read, most-published, most-analyzed American writers. His works include The Witches of Eastwick, The Coup, Rabbit Run and Rabbit Redux. Updike's new novel, S, is a modern story drawn from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

Jim Lehrer, co-anchor of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the nightly PBS news show. Lehrer is also a published novelist and playwright. His new novel is titled Kick the Can. Lehrer is also known to many viewers of PBS for his series on his own recovery from a heart attack.

Writer and humanitarian Elie Weisel. Weisel won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for his message of "peace and atonement and human dignity." A concentration camp survivor, he has been the most impassioned and poetic supporter of efforts to memorialize the six million Jews who died in Hitler's death camps. He is author of 24 works, including Night and Dawn. His latest work, a novel, is titled Twilight.

Harry Whittington built a career on churning out pulp paperbacks. His mystery novels have received recent critical acclaim; four of them were just reissued by Black Lizard Books.